• KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    relatively modern NATO-standard tanks are being knocked out by old artillery, immobilized by old mines, and killed by cheap drones.

    “Force multiplier” doesn’t mean invincible. By “Gulf Storm” I assume you mean “Desert Storm” during the Persian Gulf War. The coalition forces still lost a lot of tanks, APCs, and airplanes even in victory.

    The US in particular sent only 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, and none of them were “relatively modern”. Those tanks may have actually been in Desert Storm they’re so old!

    These few tanks are designed to work in concert with massive artillery and air superiority fighter bombers, which Ukraine doesn’t have. Right now neither side has a substantial advantage in the air, and Ukraine just doesn’t have enough planes to attack with them.

    So the actual thing Ukraine needs is more expensive “force multipliers”, like Patriot missile systems and F-16s. Artillery shells, mines, and drones can’t protect you from those.